Yelp today launched a new feature that broadens its role in helping consumers execute home services projects. Known simply as ‘Projects,’ the feature helps homeowners not only find local service professionals but manage project lifecycles, including receiving quotes and booking jobs.
This builds from tools Yelp already offers including Request A Quote, Request A Call, and Nearby Jobs. Based on the traction around all these features, Yelp decided to go further and launch Yelp Projects as a more federated and holistic way for homeowners to commission jobs, and for local service pros to land new projects.
“This launch delivers on our long-term strategy to enhance the services experience for consumers and businesses,” Yelp VP of Consumer Product, Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh told Localogy Insider. “We’ve doubled down on our commitment to create a differentiated experience tailored for services categories.”
All-in-One
Going deeper on Projects, it offers both consumer and SMB-facing features. Starting with the former, Yelp users can view and manage several home-services projects in one place. They can request quotes and discuss project parameters with providers using a built-in messaging function.
From a UX perspective, the way this plays out is that new projects can be created by users with the existing Request a Quote function. These projects live in the new Projects area, along with any other active projects that users have initiated. And a new “Projects” tab is front & center in the Yelp app.
Projects are organized in a list, most recent first, and have identifying icons for the type of local service job (think: plumbing versus landscaping). Drilling down into a given project, users can then see any quotes that have come in from local service providers, unread messages and other status indicators.
Users can also schedule consultations, compare prices and track project status in the same place. The idea is for a more streamlined and time-saving tool for what is otherwise a complex and disjointed process connecting with home service pros. So it’s all about saving time and giving consumers more confidence in their hiring decisions.
“As we’ve continued to evolve and build new services features, we recognized that there’s a huge opportunity to provide even more value to both consumers and businesses to help them save time and energy,” said Ramesh, “by streamlining the communication and hiring experience in one place.”
Both Sides of the Marketplace
On the service-provider end, Yelp Projects similarly gives them a purpose-built area to establish and manage new jobs. That includes several functions that are the provider-facing counterpart to the above user-facing features, including a place to organize their outgoing bids/quotes and customer messaging.
Speaking of customer messaging, part of the Projects launch is an inbox redesign. Specifically, Yelp has redesigned the messaging UX central to the Yelp for Business portal. That new design extends to Projects, including a more organized interface for home service pros to manage their jobs and leads.
That last part could resonate with busy home-services pros that otherwise have several balls in the air in terms of pending bids. This lets them organize themselves a bit better and have a single view into their business pipeline. Yelp is also offering more at-a-glance project details as part of the inbox redesign.
As for availability, consumers can access Yelp Projects in the new tab that’s prevalent within the Yelp iOS and Android app. Home services pros can meanwhile access it by logging into their Yelp for Business account on iOS and web. This should help both constituents come together with more structure.
“We’ve heard from consumers that they’re looking to better organize their communication with service providers when starting new projects,” said Ramesh, “while home service businesses are looking for more high-quality leads – these new updates aim to meet these needs for both sides of the marketplace.”
